NewsChannel 5.com - Nashville, Tennessee - Middle Tennessee Water Bottler Lays Off 31

Middle Tennessee Water Bottler Lays Off 31

RED BOILING SPRINGS, Tenn. (AP) - Nestle Waters laid off workers at its Pure Life water bottling plant in Red Boiling Springs.

A report from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development on Monday said the Macon County plant idled 31 employees on Sept. 24.

County Mayor Shelvy Linville said the plant employed about 120 people prior to the layoffs.

No plant officials were immediately reachable by telephone for comment Monday.

Nestle Waters is based in Paris, France, and is the bottled water unit of the Swiss company, Nestle, S.A.

Macon County's unemployment rate for August was 11.9 percent, compared with a statewide average of 10.8 percent and the national jobless rate of 9.7 percent.

The Nestle layoffs were the only job losses noted in the latest state report.

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